Patten & Patten Inc. TN Sells 89,990 Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL

Key Points

• Patten & Patten Inc. TN cut its PayPal stake by 72.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 89,990 shares and leaving it with 34,250 shares valued at about $2.0 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious overall: several firms lowered price targets or kept neutral/hold views, and MarketBeat shows an average rating of “Hold” with a $56.42 price target.
• PayPal’s latest quarter beat expectations, posting EPS of $1.34 on revenue of $8.35 billion, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share.

Patten & Patten Inc. TN lowered its holdings in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL - Free Report) by 72.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,250 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 89,990 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN's holdings in PayPal were worth $2,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PYPL. Maia Wealth LLC boosted its stake in PayPal by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in PayPal by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,698 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN raised its holdings in PayPal by 0.3% in the third quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN now owns 56,934 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,818,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in PayPal by 2.0% in the third quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,185 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of PayPal by 0.7% in the third quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,043 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,679,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PYPL. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $34.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $52.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Compass Point upgraded shares of PayPal from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of PayPal from $50.00 to $32.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of PayPal in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PayPal has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Frank Keller sold 29,581 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.02, for a total transaction of $1,361,317.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,113.34. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total value of $1,560,563.37. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,285,484.67. The trade was a 54.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,199 shares of company stock worth $4,294,018. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

PayPal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still see value in the stock, with RBC and Daiwa assigning upbeat ratings, and commentary arguing PayPal may be cheap enough that expectations are already low.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings showed a beat on both EPS and revenue, suggesting the core business is still growing and executing better than expected.
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Hold rating, reflecting a wait-and-see stance rather than a strong bullish or bearish call.
• Negative Sentiment: Macquarie downgraded PayPal to Neutral and cut its price target, citing a softer second-quarter outlook and a cost-saving plan that appears back-end loaded. Macquarie Downgrades PayPal as Cost-Saving Plan Looks Too Back-End Loaded
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America also lowered its price target and kept a Neutral rating, adding to the cautious analyst tone around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority launched a competition probe into PayPal’s wallet funding and usage practices, raising regulatory uncertainty in an important international market. FCA Probe Tests PayPal’s UK Wallet Economics And Growth Narrative
• Negative Sentiment: Several recent articles argue that the market was not impressed by PayPal’s earnings beat, with investors focusing instead on slower growth expectations, competitive pressures, and margin concerns.

PayPal Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of PYPL opened at $45.37 on Friday. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.46 and a 12-month high of $79.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $40.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $46.75 and its 200 day moving average is $53.99.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PayPal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. PayPal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.51%.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal's platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal's portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree's developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.

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